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Posted by
MedTech Expert
on 2008-01-01

1. Generally lack hands-on business building know-how. Provide little if any problem solving capability.
2. Are use to getting into and out of stocks (public) quickly and do not like being in the "roach hotel" when things get tough. Will be hot and cold on investing in future rounds unless they stand to lose alot.
3. They travel in different circles so their networks are generally useless for start-ups.
4. Provide little if any operating advice - recruiting, compensation plans, insurances, MIS, etc. - as they have no resources or experience to draw from.
5. Are generally overcommitted and do not provide the commitment as other board members.
6. Some parade as venture investors but as part of a larger private equity fund, I can assure you they are not.

I feel like I have been suckered into starting LLC's by law firms over and over again, and here is what happens every time: (1) it costs twice as much to get all of the papers done, (2) we start growing and need to layer in complex partnership concepts for the equivalent of employee options, (3) we have to convert to a C Corporation to take any real external financing, and (4) the conversion costs twice as much as you expect since you need to transform a convoluted partnership structure into an equity structure.

Using an LLC structure for a fast growing start-up seems like a trick play to generate ten or twenty times the legal fees. My next company is going to be a corporation, starting with an S corp for preferential tax treatment and migrating to a C corp when the business starts to scale. Any other thoughts on this strategy are welcomed in the feedback.